3 little fishes...

Brahm started swim lessons this summer. He is fearless. Here he is actually swimming. He cannot touch the bottom of the pool except for right next the the edge at the shallow end. I had to get in with him because he was constantly getting in "over his head". He'd swallow some water and cough a bit, I'd rescue him and return him to the steps, then he'd turn around and do it again. He did throw up twice...He swallows a lot of water!
Brahm rarely stays above water. Sometimes the lifeguards panick and think he's drowning.

Emerson prepares to jump. Water is so much fun for my boys!

Swim Lessons

McKay doing the breast stroke. His teacher really wants him to try out for a swim team. He does really well and we're pleased that he has worked so hard.
Emerson swimming solo. He's such a stinker. He is a good swimmer, but mostly loves to play. His teachers give him a hard time because he constantly wanders off when he's supposed to be at the edge with his class. He is such a silly boy.
McKay doing the backstroke.
Emerson getting ready to dive.
Fun! Fun! Fun!

Ogden Marathon

Here's Rick and his twin, Rob, running the Ogden Marathon 2008. Rob grew this awesome mustache so he could look like "Hulk Hogan"?? So hilarious we couldn't stop laughing!

All 5 of our boys were troopers and had lots of fun wearing the dad hats they all made and cheering them on. Climbing IN the water fountain was a must at the end of this very hot, long day!

McKay's Baptism

In May McKay was baptized. It was wonderful to have so much family there since we were still in Utah. We're so pleased with his choice to follow the Savior's example of obedience and make covenants with his Heavenly Father.

Blogger issues!

I am having so much trouble with this blog site that I'm probably not going to blog unless something changes. Sorry...I spend lots of time working on a blog and then it deletes all my pictures a day later, or won't post after I've published my post.

If anyone has any ideas or has had these problems before, feel free to tell me what I can do to fix it. Otherwise, this is the end of my blogging...too frustrating!

Thompson Family Christmas Party 2007

Liz & Stevesy the dog, Peg with Noah, and Anthony "Tino".

Ginger and Talmage.

Katherine and Jacob. She'll love me for posting this photo with her mouth full...:)

Grandpa Dave and Mary getting ready to pass out the traditional Christmas Eve gifts from them.

Rob & Ike looking so cute!
All the kids got a set of laser guns from grandma and grandpa Thompson. We took them over to the church and turned out the lights in the gym and had a crazy time! Even the adults (I'd say especially the adults) were having fun!

Josh loving Rick! Azalea and McKay getting ready to open their presents.

Happy #6, Emerson!

Here's the traditional customized cake I made for Emerson's 6th birthday in December.
Emerson preferred a party with cousins to laser tag or skating. He loves his cousins! There's Tal and Ike in the background while Emerson blows out his candles. And Josh and Peg enjoying some dinner.

Grandma Thompson, Lucy with baby Noah, and Christopher.

Ninja's-N-Elephants

Halloween was fun, even though Rick wasn't able to be there. Here are McKay and Emerson being the toughest looking Ninja's possible.
Brahm was kind of a stinker and wouldn't let us take any solo photos of him in his elephant costume. He was adorable, though.












Here's grandma in her lovely gypsy costume with Rob's kids, Ike and Chris, and also McKay, Brahm, and Emerson. Grandma always has a
wonderful party and made home made donuts with icing, hot chili and cider. It was so great! We've missed our fun Utah family halloweens. Grandma throws the best parties ever!

They also had GIANT pumpkins, which they later carved into amazing Jack-O-Lanterns that could have easily won first place at any fair!

Harvest Party

Thanks to our wonderful friends, LeeAnn and Lance Beard, we got to attend a Fall Harvest Party! There were potato sack races, two legged races, a hanging donut eating contest (which, as you can see Brahm must have won since he used his fingers!), a rope climbing contest (McKay came in second to his friend Noah who made it all the way up to the tree branches...it's a tall, tall tree), and some delicious bread and soup to warm our bellies. It was very cold and rained the whole time...but everyone made the best of it and had fun!

Apples, apples, and more apples.

In the fall the boys had lots of fun helping grandma and grandpa Christensen bottle apples. I suppose I helped a little bit, too :) It took about 2 hours, but was quite entertaining to watch and help grandpa turn the apple peeler and see it cut the apples into long ringlets. Nothing like a fun day bottling together!!

Utah State Fair...

This was last October at the Utah State Fair with Grandma and Grandpa Thompson. It was really fun. The kids had a blast going down the giant slide in potatoe sacks and riding on the cars around the tracks. We also really enjoyed the animals...especially the awesome smell! McKay was a little bit scared on the airplane ride with grandpa, but we did catch a few smiles.

Doughnut Falls

Okay, so we really need to catch up! This is all of us at Doughnut Falls in Utah, fall of 2007. Rick was home for a weekend and so we made the most of it. It was so beautiful! The boys climbed all over, dug in the dirt, and of course collected lots of rocks and sticks. Brahm threw lots of rocks, which was kinda cute and kinda scarey.

Emma Smith: My Story

For those of you interested, there is a movie coming out this Friday in Utah in theaters about the life of Emma Smith. Outside of Utah I don't think it will be in theaters, but will come out on DVD.

I often think about the women in the bible and other scriptures & in history and wish there was more writings and history on the women! Wouldn't it be nice to know how the wives of Moses & many other prophets & leaders in history handled their daily lives while their husbands were off doing other important things for months and years at a time? How they dealt with unruly children? How they kept food fresh without refrigerators? How they handled that time of the month without precious pads and tampons? How they handled stress? I think about these things and sometimes try to imagine. But, it would be nice to know. This wonderful movie coming out will give Emma's account, as far as we know, of her experiences and life as the wife of a prophet during the 1800's.

Our sister-in-law, Katherine Thompson (aka Katherine Nelson for her music, which is really wonderful: http://www.ldsaudio.com/shop/music.aspx?id=291&type=artist) plays Emma Smith. She said that a relative of Emma Smith wanted to do a movie to help people understand her life better since there are such misconceptions about her leaving the church after Joseph died. Some of the scenes are taken from the movie that is currently playing at the Legacy Theater in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building entitled: "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration". The LDS church agreed to help do this film with the Emma Smith family. That is how it came to be.

If you're interested in seeing the trailer and other information, here is the link for the movie: http://www.candlelightmedia.com/emma/index4.html

Farewell...

Rick's sister, Marianne, left on an ASL mission to Portland, Oregon October 17th. Here she is with her sisters, from left to right: Lucy, Liz, Marianne, Peg and baby Noah. We'll miss you, M'Anne! Aren't they all so beautiful!